The Community Development Fund Project (CDF) is a social and economic development project implemented in Northern states of Sudan by the Ministry of Finance and National Economy of Sudan through independent Project Implementation Unit (PIU) reporting to an interministerial Project Steering Committee chaired by the Ministry of Federal Governance. The Project Financial Management System approved by IDA in July 2006. The project supports community ‐led development in Northern Sudan through partnerships among local stakeholder, including local communities, NGOs and community‐based organizations, on the basis of sub‐projects submitted by local communities and developed through a consultative, participatory planning process. The project’s objective is to meet urgent community driven recovery and development needs in the war affected and underdeveloped areas of Northern Sudan including the Three Areas by providing social and economic services and infrastructure. Energy has been identified as a key element that leads to effectiveness of the basic services. Solar energy has been selected to meet the energy demand for basic services in the selected communities for reasons related to the remoteness of those communities, nonexistence of grid electricity and even the likelihood that such communities will connected to the national grid in the near future is non‐existent as well. From the utility view point, rural communities are characterized by remote, dispersed and low energy demand, conditions not favorable to the utility investment. On the other hand, Photovoltaic solar energy systems are stand‐alone, modular and of no/low maintenance requirement which make them perfectly fit rural energy demand. The consideration of Photovoltaic solar energy systems to support basic services in the selected communities was based on the aforementioned arguments.